#NOTABLEPEOPLE: Singer/Songwriter SSUN

SSUN is a Toronto-based, Shanghai born and raised musician. SSUN, who describes her tracks as a mix of RnB and Pop found her love for music early on as a child. She was inspired by her father who was a piano teacher and her mother who was a singer. We caught up with SSUN on the release of her latest EP ‘eclipse’ and the inspiration behind these moody melodies.

Q: What or who got you first into music?

S: Probably my family. My family is very much into music, so I was naturally influenced and inspired.

Q: When did you make the move from Shanghai to Toronto?

S: That was 2015, I came here for school — for university.

Q: Where did you go to school?

S: UOFT Scarborough campus.

Q: Who were some of your musical inspirations growing up?

S: My family influenced me a lot, my mom was a singer. I would hear her singing at home you know? I’m just getting used to music being a part of my life since I was so little.

Q: So, I know this was probably influenced from your family, but I read that you did a lot of classical training?

S: That’s also from my family because my dad would teach piano so yeah, I learned how to play piano from him.

Q: So cool! I wish I stuck more into music because I grew up in a very musical family as well. 

S: Oh yeah?! They didn’t force me to be into music. I was just naturally inspired.

Q: I listened to eclipse and it was a complete vibe. I was dancing and sending it to my friends. It’s definitely an EP I will play once I can have people over at my apartment [Laughs]. How would you describe the music you typically create?

S: For eclipse, it’s mostly R&B and Pop. Thot is my favourite type of music, so I decided to do it as my first EP.

Q: Do you have a specific R&B or Pop artists you really like?

S: When I was little, I was into Alicia Keys, Aaliyah you know? [Laughs]. These days I’m really into Kiana Ledé.

 Her latest album KIKI – I really loved that. 

Q: Do you have a creative process before you start a song?

S: My team and I have a lot of sessions before – either music wise or creative wise so we do a lot of work together.

Q: What was the inspiration behind eclipse?

S: I started the project at the beginning of last March, which is when the pandemic began. Every day – you just see sad news everywhere, so this situation really inspired this. I just wanted to express myself more into music. If you look into the lyrics, you’ll find that it’s actually kind of related to what was happening. It’s about love and loss. I just wanted to inspire people and say, “even though we are going through all of this, we will get back to our normal lives and party again.” So, that inspired my EP at the time. 

Q: What song off the record resonates with you the most?

S: Dear Lover. That one is more deep – it’s about love and loss. I also wanted to use that song to remind people to cherish what they have for now and I think everyone has that kind of experience in a relationship or with family members or friendship. I think that one is the easiest to resonate with. 

Q: I totally agree. There are so many different forms of love and I like that you touched upon that. 

Q: Also – your fashion sense is incredible. Do you have an inspiration behind how you create your looks?

S: I have to thank my stylist [Laughs] She will send me images, or I do, and we just experiment. I’m always down to try different looks! It’s all about trying. 

Q: Obviously the pandemic sucks. How has that affected your work as an artist?

S: It’s harder, definitely. For example, we have difficulties booking studios because there’s a limitation on people. We also have problems with release dates.

Q: If you could create a playlist of your life and pick 5 songs for this playlist, what would it be on it?

S: [Laughs] for the rest of my life?

Q: Rest of your life. 

S: To be honest, I would have to choose 5 different styles of beats so I could play whatever I want to.

Q: Honestly agreed, that’s a hard question. I don’t even think I could answer it myself. I don’t know why I asked.  [Laughs] 

Q: Who are your go-to artists on Spotify or Apple playlists right now?

S: I’ve been listening to the album KIKI, Bruno Mars, The Weeknd or Ariana Grande. But to be honest, normally I just put on a playlist and let it randomly play. Surprise me! 

Q: Do you ever listen to the curated zodiac sign playlists?

S: Oh! I’ve never tried that. Do you think it really works?

Q: It does. I don’t know how it knows what I like but it does.

S: I will definitely do it.

Q: So, what’s next for you?

S: We’re preparing to shoot my next video and getting for an album by the end of this year. Those are my main two focuses right now. 

Q: I am so excited! Can’t wait to hear it. 

SSUN’s latest EP eclipse is available on all music streaming platforms now. 

Spotify

Apple Music

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